Tom Higgins founded Gold-i just four years ago and already the company is valued at £10 million, has become a world leader in its industry and grown to employ 17 people.

The company provides software for brokers and banks which, among other roles, helps them trade in foreign exchange.

Mr Higgins, 46, who lives in Puttenham with his wife and four children, worked in the City for 20 years before deciding to quit the commute and start up a business closer to home.

“I was a management consultant and always worked in IT. It is very hard to get expertise in my company’s area and I realised this when I was working in London.

“It made me think there was a definite gap in the market so I decided to make a go of it.”

Mr Higgins was the sole founder and remains the sole shareholder of the company.

“I started it from scratch and it has now grown to 17 people. We now sell products around the world and have become global leaders in our field.

“At the beginning, I said I wanted us to become world leaders. Now we have taken that role, I want us to be worth £100 million.”

Mr Higgins said he learnt critical lessons in his first job, sanding walking sticks in a factory. “All day I had around 5,000 walking sticks that I needed to put into a sanding machine,” he said. “Early on, I realised that if I stuck them in the side of the machine, the whole thing jammed and I got a half-hour break before someone could fix it.”

However, the company director said that unlike sanding walking sticks, working at Gold-i was never boring.

“It's an incredibly rewarding job with constant direct client contact,” he said. “The employees know they are making an impact around the world.”